Features

WHITETOP — The annual Whitetop Maple Festival will launch Grayson’s 2015 festival season, which continues throughout the summer and into the winter season, with over 38 events to choose from.

The Maple Festival is March 28-29 in the county’s highlands. It begins at Mount Rogers School (11245 Highlands Parkway, Whitetop) at 8 a.m. each day. Enjoy a pancake breakfast with genuine maple syrup, tapped fresh from the highest peaks in Virginia.

This year marks the area’s 14th annual Cystic Fibrosis Auction, and according to main-man-in-charge Freddy Hall, it will be the kind of event regular customers know to expect and newcomers will be surprised to discover.

Up for auction will be toys, games, memorabilia, collectibles, furniture new and antiques, building supplies (anyone need a sink?) and services ranging from private concerts to some time behind the steering wheel (stick?) of a military tank.

In an effort to prepare both staff and public for a new future, Bogeys, Galax’s answer to fine dining, held a private, small-plate dinner with wine pairings.

Owner Kenneth Belton, who was one of the restaurant’s four owners before buying out the others late last year, was on hand along with consultant Judy Brannock; new chef J.C. Botero (born in Colombia, raised in south Florida and lately of Olde Mill Resort); sommelier Steve Foster of Andes Importers of Salem, who was responsible for the wine pairing; and new staff members.

WOODLAWN — Joy Ranch Christian Home for Children welcomed Brian Allen to the staff as the facility’s new director on Monday.

This new addition has concluded a lengthy search for a director for the children’s home and ministry in Carroll County. Allen will fill the position left by Tim Lewis, and filled temporarily by Mary Hutchins.

HILLSVILLE — The mysterious tenants of Hillsville’s Night Watch Haunt are back and ready to celebrate the holidays in a way that will live in the community’s nightmares long after the stuffed animals, cards and chocolate go on clearance at the store.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., born in poverty in Atlanta and killed by an assassin’s bullet in Memphis at age 39, spent his life traveling through America as a Baptist preacher and Civil Rights activist who sought justice and racial equality for African-Americans.

His “I Have a Dream” speech established him as one of the greatest orators in American history, and his work shed a light that is still a beacon today.

Laura George, founder of The Oracle Institute, pauses while giving a tour of the interfaith organization’s grounds to admonish her pet.

She can’t keep a straight face and neither can the two institute volunteers – Donna Montgomery, the Mystery School Coordinator, and Katie Kennedy, the Interfaith Coordinator – accompanying her; all three are giggling.

Galax Police Officer Darrin Alley helped reunite an owner with his lost dog in time for the holidays this year.

After rescuing a beagle pup from the middle of U.S. 58 in Galax, a photo of the rescue taken by a citizen circulated the web, and gained the attention of animal-lovers throughout the community. Less than two days after the pup was rescued, he was reunited with his owner, according to posts from the police department’s Facebook page.

Joy Ranch’s annual live Nativity on Dec. 13 was a well-crafted spectacle for the faithful.

Set up in a drive-thru format, cars stopped at each tableau. The scenes featured a scribe who read the nativity passage from a scroll, shepherds watching their flocks, a choir of angels, wise men with camels, a robed traveler with a live donkey, a pair of Roman soldiers taking a census for Caesar, innkeepers with no room and the infant Jesus with his family, in a stable topped with a star.

Santa’s elves are taller than you’d think: dozens of firefighters and citizen volunteers crowded into one of the Galax Fire Department’s bays to help pack Community Christmas Food Fund boxes for 550 needy local families on Dec. 18.

Helpers of all ages loaded boxes onto a conveyor system, stocked the boxes with food and household items, kept them moving and stacked them when full. The boxes were delivered on Sunday.

This year, students at Gladeville Elementary School were given an important mission to spread holiday cheer to members of the U.S. Armed Forces who will likely not be home in time for the holidays.

According to school counselor Judy Neal and art teacher Amy Jackson, who partnered for the project, around 70 Christmas cards were sent to a group of soldiers in an undisclosed location this year, thanking them for their service and wishing them a Merry Christmas.

The West Galax Diner will be open Christmas Day to serve a very special clientele, says owner Tina Dowling.

“We just started [planning] this last Sunday, because a girl who helps out on Sundays came in,” says Dowling. “She was looking for somewhere to volunteer [for Christmas] and couldn’t find anybody having a Christmas dinner. So I said, ‘We’ll do it.’”

Three years ago, Katy Dunn suffered the unthinkable when she lost her infant son in a tragic accident. But since then, she and her family have worked together to turn their grief into something beautiful for other families.

This year, the family’s annual toy and clothing drive, CJ’s Christmas Project, has resulted in more than 1,100 donations from their community. Dunn says that this year’s collection will be distributed to several charities, including the Carroll Christmas Fund.

Oakland Elementary School in Carroll County held its Winter Festival last Thursday evening, with plenty of fun activities for students and their families.

Guests were invited to have dinner with Santa Claus in the cafeteria, and enjoy a number of reindeer games and other activities throughout the school, including a fortune teller, cake walk, story time and kissing booth.

The hallways were also lined with winter-themed craft booths, inviting both children and their parents to make a dent in their holiday decoration and gift shopping lists.

HILLSVILLE — Members of Hillsville and Carroll law enforcement gathered at the Carroll County Sheriff’s Office on Monday to present a check to Carroll County Special Olympics, and sport the whiskers they grew during “No Shave November” one last time.

When asked if any of the officers planned to keep their new Duck Dynasty ‘dos, the answer from everyone was a resounding “No!”

“Someone actually told me that I looked three years older,” commented Interim Hillsville Chief Wesley Yonce as he rubbed his face.